


Be Still My Beating Heart

by RazRas



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Injury, Feelings Realization, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Sad Viren (The Dragon Prince)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:36:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29078718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RazRas/pseuds/RazRas
Summary: Takes place in a fictitious scenario where Viren escapes his prison cell in Katolis and flees with Aaravos' mirror. Unfortunately, Opeli and Katolis' forces are chasing after them and Viren struggles to find an escape for them both.Takes place before the whole caterpillar-eye thing.
Relationships: Aaravos & Viren (The Dragon Prince), Aaravos/Viren (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Be Still My Beating Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone,  
> Just a warning, this is very sad. But hopefully it's good sad.  
> Hope you enjoy!

Viren panted, lungs burning as he ran through the thicket. Sharp pains shooting through his bad leg, the pain nearly overwhelming as he bounded over a fallen tree branch. The mirror was heavy too and his arm ached from heaving it along with him.

“They’re catching up to you, Viren” came Aaravos’ voice. His tone was steady but even Viren could hear the faint hints of concern and faithlessness.

Viren didn’t bother responding, breathless enough as it was. Suddenly, a large log he had been stepping on snapped, the shards of the wood slicing through his calf. He could hear the clap of the horses hooves rapidly approaching, they were running out of time. The mage haphazardly set the mirror down, hoping he hadn’t scratched it, before forcibly yanking his leg out of the wood. He hissed at the pain, blood pouring freely from his already crippled leg.

“Viren,” the elf called, concern now transparent in his voice. The mage ignored him, lifting the mirror back up and continuing to run as fast as he could, eyes now watering at the pain.

There was a cave not far off and the mage scrambled for cover. He wouldn’t be able to escape them, Opeli hot on his trail. He set the mirror down, pulling together the best ward he could manage at the cave’s mouth.

“Viren, that won’t hold.”

“Shut up,” the mage snarled. He knew the elf was right, though. The ward would hold for about twenty minutes at best and while it barred humans from entry it would hardly protect them from the shower of arrows that would no doubt arrive soon after.

The mage moved to shrug off his sweat soaked outer robe, rolling up the sleeves of his undershirt.

“What are you doing?” The elf’s tone was accusatory, disbelieving. “You have to surrender Viren. Keep this up and they’ll kill you.”

“They’ll kill me anyway,” the mage mumbled, pulling out his spellbook and flipping frantically through his notes.

“Give up,” the elf urged again and Viren pinned him with a glare.

“You do not know these people like I do Aaravos. Imprisoning me the first time was an act of charity, now that I have escaped they will not rest until I have been  _ executed _ . And once I am gone your mirror will be shattered and any hopes you had of escaping wherever  _ the hell _ you are will be long gone.”

The elf laughed lightly.

“This mirror is nearly indestructible. You need not fear for me.”

“Nearly,” Viren repeated back at him, finally finding the right page. “This is not just Katolis who stands against us, every elf, dragon, and magical creature will band together to see to it that you do not escape. They  _ will _ find a way.”

Aaravos swallowed, unsteadily eying Viren through the mirror. He had never seen the human speak with such conviction.

The mage pulled a small paring knife out of his pouch, slitting deep vertical cuts through both his wrists.

“What are you doing?” Aaravos hissed, alarmed by the sudden turn of events.

The mage swayed slightly, but held his ground.

“I found a spell,” he confessed, watching the blood start to flow freely, “Seems humanity has accomplished a thing or two in the past millennia.”

Aaravos was surprised that the mage had managed to hide this from him. When had they last been separated?

“And you chose not to tell me?”

Viren grinned at the mirror. “You will come to see that it has, ah, less than desirable ingredients.”

The mage’s eyes began to glow violet as he directed the fallen blood to rise and draw runes along the edges of the mirror.

Katolis guards could be heard at the mouth of the cave clambering against the wards. The cave went quiet though as they seemingly retreated, Opeli yelling something unintelligible in the distance.

Slick oil poured into the cave, and Viren halted his motions with the blood to keep the oil from getting too close to him or the mirror. The elf looked with alarm at the floor, and with further alarm at Viren who paid it little else mind, continuing with his spell.

The cave conflagrated as fire spread over the oil.

“Viren. You  _ need _ to lea-”

An arrow flew into the cave impaling Viren, it’s sharp point smashing into the glass. Viren looked down to ensure the mirror hadn’t cracked.

“Viren!” The mage yanked the small caterpillar off of his ear, placing it back into a glass jar. The elf pounded against the glass, but Viren was hardly even looking at him anymore, directing all of his focus into the steady flow of blood.

The elf looked taken aback when the blood seemed to leak over the edges of the glass onto his side of the mirror. Dripping crimson nearly coating the entire surface.

It was getting harder to breath and Viren rested his forehead against the glass, watching Aaravos scream soundlessly at him. He opened the small jar and whispered into it.

“Goodbye Aaravos. I suppose in a way this is overdue; things would have been much simpler had Harrow let me die for him before and Stars know it would’ve been better for Katolis. However, perhaps it is selfish, but a part of me is glad I lived, if for no other reason than to have known you. I hope you can do more with my life than I have. Please,  _ mgh _ , take care of my children, of humanity, of yourself.”

He smiled into the mirror, before the last of the blood blocked his view of the elf, “I love you…”

And with that Viren could feel his last breath leave him, the world going dark as he completed the spell.

~

Aaravos had long dreamed about being freed. Of how much joy he would feel once he could finally feel something, see something, beyond the scope of his own microcosm.

None of his fantasies contained Viren’s limp body collapsing into his arms as the first sensation of the true world he would feel in a millenia. He had never imagined that he would wish so desperately that he could go back to being prisoned, that he had never been freed at all.

The Archmage stepped through the glass, trembling hands holding the mage’s body. He was still warm and it was easy to fantasize that he was just sleeping. Sleeping in a pool of his own blood. Aaravos knew though. Knew that the very fact that he was touching Viren meant that he was gone forever.

Aaravos hadn’t even realized he was crying until the wet droplets spilled onto Viren’s face. The elf dropped to his knees, cradling the human in his arms.

“Viren,” he whispered, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Be sure to comment and thoughts or sentiments, and have a good one!


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